Yet Another List - Potential Blog Topics

It's another one of those times when I've got so much on my mind that I don't know where to begin.  The danger, of course, is in not beginning at all.  I don't want to fall into that trap so I will make a list of the things that I could potentially write about then choose one and get on with it.

the boy and dad I saw at the science museum today - boy looking very average, dad with a mohawk, leather studded vest and ear full of metal
a room full of strangers
a new Bible study
meeting new people
virtue verses vanity
first impressions
beauty
conversations I want to have with my daughters
conversations I want to have or wish I'd had with my mother
temporary single parenting
summer schedules
societal standards of beauty
setting standards for our family
enforcing the standards we set
pieces of our vacation I want to capture
why we make choices we didn't intend to make
making the best use of time
living intentionally
moving more toward green
how being green meshes with my faith
starting a blog about incremental greening
why I'm torturing my children and myself with music lessons this summer
why I find my husband's new tattoo irritating
getting to know others
never really knowing anyone
the comfort of having a car mechanic that I trust not to rip me off
the even greater comfort of having a car that's paid for and how that's so much more important to me now than I ever imagined it could be
life with a tattoo
a year in review concerning our foreign exchange student
parenting techniques - particularly how to deal with lying and when a child won't eat a taco
baking bread
making pasta
summer learning
friendships - the effort and the pay off
Uncle Bob
the scale of friendship
judgement
Christianity and the Bible
millions of years verses creation
the way the brain works - how Galileo and others help us see more clearly
my amazing children
Father's Day minus the father
the business of birth
Netflix instant
definitions of beauty - world and God

plus there's another really great topic that I thought of earlier but now that I'm making this list I'm totally unable to bring it to mind.

Stamps

Passport stamps appeal to the list maker in me. Each stamp is a lasting and visible record of an event. The stamps are crisp and clear as a check mark or crossed out entry. Even the chunk that the stamp makes as it hits the passport is satisfying.

As I've thought more about my habit of lists I've realized that there are so many small pleasures that appeal to the list maker in me. Here is a list of the listing activities that I find pleasing:

passports
menus
programs
bulletins
calendars
schedules
yellow pages
card catalogs
indexes
tables of contents
recipes

I'm sure there are others that help me feel the order of the world around me. What kind of records do you find appealing?

Checking it off

I'm a list maker. There are several things that I love about a list. One is that it gets the listed items out of my head. Somehow, the act of making the list relieves the pressure of all those items bouncing against the inside of my skull. Also, the satisfaction of crossing items off a list is really fulfilling. Knowing that I had an intention and followed through is very empowering. Even the act of making a grocery list and crossing off the things I've put in my cart is satisfying.

I've been known to put things on a to-do list that I've already done, just so I can cross them off. It's not cheating if it's your list.

I teased my mother about being a list maker when I was younger. It took me awhile to get in touch with my list making self, step out of the list making closet and embrace the list maker that I am. Maybe there is a genetic component to list making, maybe list making is the result of being around successful list makers, perhaps list making is the result of experience and the inability to remember anything that's not written down. Whatever the origin of the list making, it's a method of making my way in the world that provides comfort and a sense of accomplishment.

This week we managed to mark four things off our "Things to do around the house" list. We added insulation to our bonus room. Already there is a noticeable difference in the temperature there. The kids won't need to wear their heavy coats to school any more. They are thrilled, I assure you.



We reworked the family room coffee table, covering the top with padding and upholstery. It's lovely to look at and prop your feet upon.



We hung a peg board in the garage for the tools there. I suppose the picture is a give away for my husband's favorite football team. Until we got the peg board up, the sign (yes, it is as large as it appears in the picture) was centered in front of our home. At least this year the love of my life didn't string the Christmas lights on it.









My favorite project, and the one of which I am most proud, is our new headboard. We created a luxurious, covered headboard for our bed. The headboard was the final touch to having a beautiful bedroom to rival any world class hotel.








There are other things on the list but the sense of accomplishment in crossing these things off is great. If I hadn't made the list, I'd never be able to acknowledge the triumph.

I wonder how non-list makers take time to feel the victory of a job well done when there is no list to help them slow down and mark the moment.